1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sporting and gaming equipment generally and more specifically to a tee ball stand which simulates actual hitting conditions by employing a generally vertical elongated stand having a base portion supporting a separable resilient ball support member, which ball support member pivots about its lower portion upon being impacted by a bat and is urged back to its vertical at rest position by a biasing means arranged coaxially within said base portion.
2. Prior Art
Baseball batting stands have been disclosed in the past having resilient upper ball rest portions and self-righting features. Those of material interest are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,383,686 and 4,445,685 to Cardieri, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,183,000 to Dix and in U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,697.
Inevitably, a batter using a tee ball batting stand will, when desirous of impacting his bat cleanly upon a ball atop the stand, strike a blow at least partly upon the stand itself. For this reason, stands have been proposed having resilient ball rest portions. To dissipate the unusually large forces imparted to these stands by a high speed swing, shock dissipation means have been used. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,183,000 to Dix has a vertical post which is resilient through its entire length, allowing the post to bend into a 180.degree. U-shape when struck, and thereafter right itself. However, the post of Dix, upon springing back to the vertical, will swing back and forth until reaching a motionless state, which swinging motion presents a danger to anyone nearby due to the great forces involved.